These are some of the more common methods of identifying electricity theft:

• Financial Rewards - Utility companies encourage consumers to report electricity theft, sometimes offering big rewards for information leading to conviction of anyone stealing electricity. Unfortunately, most cases are never identified in the apartment industry due to lack of timely information.
  
  
• Periodic Checks - Electricity theft frequently takes place after service has been disconnected. Some utility companies periodically check disconnected meters if the customer has not contacted them to reconnect service. This labor-intensive, manual process has little chance of success given that the apartment industry averages 70% turnover of tenants annually.
  
  
• Meter Readers - Utility meter readers typically suspect that electricity theft is taking place when they find a broken meter tag or other signs of tampering. But as more utility companies outsource the meter reading function to third parties, training meter readers to detect theft is becoming more difficult and less efficient. In addition, third party meter readers do not read disconnected meters.